Conversations and Constellations
by alliencat
Summary: Luna and Neville share a dance and a moment at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Please review, feedback is wonderful! Four chapters.
1. Barefoot

"That feels so nice, Luna! Why don't we use Muggle ideas more often?" said Ginny Weasley. Her and Luna Lovegood were sitting on her bed, Luna behind her, braiding her hair. Ginny had tried at least three times to get it right with magic, but it never seemed to look good enough. Luna suggested that she do it, the Muggle way, with her hands.

The two were getting ready for Ginny's brother, Bill's wedding. The Burrow was buzzing with energy – more-so than its normal magical vibe. Mrs. Weasley had been rushing around organizing, planting, cleaning, etc. for the last month it seemed, and today was when everything would come together. Luna kept Ginny's long, fiery hair in one hand and peered out the window. Sunshine was flooding everything. The boys – Ron, Fred, George, Harry, and Mr. Weasley were conjuring a lilac colored tent in the backyard.

"It looks so lovely," said Luna dreamily, eventually getting back to her work on Ginny's hair. She was nearly finished, and even from the back, her best girlfriend looked stunning. She was wearing a light green dress with spectacular beading on the waist and cap sleeves. Ginny looked beautiful, and if Luna knew Harry like she thought she did, she pictured him just baffled at the sight of his girlfriend.

"Are you almost ready? Molly's calling—Ginny! Look at your hair, that's unbelievable!" Hermione rushed in, obviously impressed by Luna's work.

"Luna did it herself, without magic. Isn't it wonderful?" Hermione walked over to Ginny in awe, staring at her intricately braided hair, as if she were trying to figure out just how it was possible to create _that_ without magic.

"Luna," Hermione laughed, still impressed. "How on earth – oh look at you! You look so lovely as well!"

She was wearing a bright yellow dress with small tiered ruffles. Her pale blonde hair was tied back behind her ears and the rest was left to flow beautifully down her back – it almost reached her hips! Ginny put just a hint of light gold shimmer on her eyelids and it made her big blue eyes look even bigger and even bluer. She looked like sunshine. "Thank you, Hermione. As do you!" Luna was so excited; things were heavy lately. The war was only just starting, yet so much had happened. She was ready to put all that aside, even for just a few hours.

"Anyways, I was saying, Molly's calling us down, she wants pictures!"

Hermione and Ginny went down the stairs carefully, not to trip in their heels over their beautiful dresses. But Luna was behind them, skipping down flights, twirling in her dress, barefoot except for an abundance of toe rings. She didn't like shoes. She felt as if they were unnecessary and anyways, bare feet were a natural Nargle repellent.

Fleur was in the kitchen, looking absolutely stunning. Her dress was just off-white and had the most remarkable pattern covering the bottom half. She held a bouquet of lilacs and deep purple roses that matched the bracelet she was wearing. She looked purely magical. Luna couldn't help but think how much effort everyone else had put into their outfits, and that maybe hers was not up to par. What she didn't seem to notice was that her effortlessness was part of her beauty.

Mrs. Weasley was sobbing, grasping the sink with one hand and Fleur with the other. "Girls," she managed to squeak out. "Gather round for pictures! I want all of you with Fleur and then we can have some of just you three, and oh dear this isn't actually happening is it? Is my son really getting married today? I never thought I'd see the day – no offense to you Fleur, love! Oh, I need some air!"

After everyone was finished, Luna separated from them and went outside, welcomed by a still-warm sun that was low in the sky. The wedding was happening at sunset and the reception to follow under the stars. She could only think of one thing as guests filtered in and grabbed seats. Where was Neville? She was excited to see him, having last interacted with him at Hogwarts, where they spent an entire afternoon by the lake together. She'd wanted to see him, badly, since. She just thought he was so lovely…

She trailed along the edge of the house, stepping in and out of flower bushes, and eventually picked a small indigo daisy to put in her hair. Only in the wizarding world would one find such beautiful things. And there was a Flutterby bush! _Mrs. Weasley did a wonderful job with this garden_, she thought, just as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Neville!"

She could hardly contain her excitement, but then she took a good look at him and had to take a step back. He was at least four inches taller (making him _much_ taller than her now. She was starting to see the good in heels), his hair cut nicely and was that a jawline? Luna was never one to notice the physical attributes of someone before their personality, but he just looked so much…older. She shook herself out of the unfamiliar state she was in and gave him a hug, tip-toeing to peck him on the cheek.

"I've been meaning to –" he started, but suddenly the tent lit up with light and music all at once. The ceremony was starting. "I'll talk to you later!" Neville said, walking away. "I'm sitting with Gran, she'll be mad I'm not there by now. Come join us if you'd like!"

Luna wished so badly that she could, but she skipped over to her father where he had saved a seat for her, not near Neville or his gran at all. The wedding music started and Luna was happy she could count on getting her mind lost in the décor, the outfits, the pure beauty of what surrounded her at the moment. She needed that distraction, especially with him in the back corner of that very tent…


	2. Courage and Elderflowers

Neville Longbottom was startled by the sudden cheers and applause from the people around him. He snapped back to the present to see Bill and Fleur at the front of the tent, sharing their first kiss as a married couple. Neville had zoned out during the vows, his eyes falling on a certain swaying, shimmering pale blonde head about ten rows up on the other side of the seating arrangement. It had been a while since he'd last seen everyone, and he was rather excited to do that before school started this year, but there was one person that he was positively itching to talk to. Just an hour ago, he had worked up the guts to go say hello – Luna was the warmest, friendliest person he had ever met, but still he was terrified to interact with her. She was a _girl_.

Suddenly there were flowers and pearl-like bubbles in the air surrounding everyone.

"Magnificent! Didn't Molly and Arthur do an amazing job on this wedding, Neville," his grandmother's voice called shrilly from beside him. "You better go strike up a conversation with that Ginny if you ever think your wedding will be like this!" He blushed smiled at her politely, but it was funny she'd mention Ginny – Neville hadn't thought of her in quite a while. His whole fourth year (and her third), he was head over heels for his friend's little sister. But ever since he met Luna the next year, his mind slowly drifted away from the concept of dating Ginny. It wasn't as if it was love at first sight with Luna…he just found her so peculiar, so interesting.

In an instant, the chairs set up to watch the ceremony vanished and tables topped with moving flowers and sparkling plates and silverware took their places. Neville was pulled by Gran into a seat next to her at a table occupied by other old witches, all crooning about how grown-up he looked. As soon as Gran's attention turned to gossip, he escaped and nearly ran to the punch table. There were at least fifteen different types of drinks to choose from – firewhiskey (he was told to stay away from that if he wanted to wake up pleasantly), butterbeer, elderflower wine, pumpkin juice, daisy nectar…_the Weasley's really did go all out for this one, _he thought.

"Have you had the elderflower wine?" said a gentle voice from behind him. He turned to see Luna, once again, and his heart fluttered. She looked positively gorgeous tonight. Maybe it was the lighting, but something about her was glowing.

"N-no," he stuttered, "I was just thinking about trying it though, is it any good?" He tried his hardest to sound normal and speak at a pace at which she could understand what he was saying.

Her face lit up. "Yes, oh yes it's lovely. Dad's told me all about the factories and how Celtic Pixies help in the extraction of the elderflowers…it sounds so fascinating – I would love to see it happen someday…" _I don't give a Horklump what pixies do or are or whatever, _Neville thought to himself, _but I could listen to her talk all day._ She handed him a interesting looking cup of the golden-colored liquid.

"So you had started to say something, Neville, before the ceremony started. What was it?"

Oh that's right. In the moment that he saw Luna, he decided to finally let her know how he wanted to spend more time with her, how pretty he thought she was, but now that courage was gone. "Oh damn," he said. Cursing was a rare thing for him, but now was definitely an appropriate time. "I've forgotten…" he took a swig of the wine and thought; _maybe this will help me remember._

"Oh that's too bad. Well, maybe you'll remember later. Come sit and chat with Dad and I, he said he would love to meet you – I mean, my friends from school…I'm going to introduce everyone later, but please join us now?"

He would've loved nothing more. As the music started up and people began dancing, Neville followed Luna to her seat, wishing that he could simply reach down and grab her hand. He wanted so badly to, but he had lost all the nerve inside of him. _Come on, you're a bloody Gryffindor!_


	3. Overbearing

Luna was blushing more than she had ever blushed in her life. "Oh it's quite warm in here," she said while fanning herself, walking towards her father's table with Neville. This was not true – it was perfectly cool and breezy inside the tent. Bill and Fleur's wedding was absolutely perfect. She wanted Neville to come sit with her and her father so that maybe he would approve of the one classmate she couldn't stop talking about. You know, for the future.

Xenophilius Lovegood was wearing robes that matched the color of his daughters, his hair similarly blonde and wavy, with the same dreamy look in his eye. Luna loved her father more than anything in the world – he was all she had left. "Dad!"

He turned to his daughter with a small smile on his face and answered, "Hello Luna, dear, I was just conversing with Mrs. Harrington about our hunt for Crumple-Horned Snorcacks!" He gestured to the woman sitting beside him, adorned in a heavily beaded, blood-red gown and a hat the size of the center piece. "She's given me some tips!"

"Lovely, that is lovely," said Luna, but for the first time in her life, she didn't want to talk about Crumple-Horned Snorcaks. "This is my friend, Neville."

Xenophilius immediately beamed, staring at him as if Neville himself were a Snorcack. "Well it is my pleasure! Luna cannot stop talking about you—"

"—And my other friends, you know, the D.A.—"

"It really is swell to meet you, Neville, I've met your grandmother on quite a few occasions, such a lovely, eccentric woman." Neville gave a soft smile and a nod and added, "Yes, Gran…she's an interesting one…"

"What are you saying about me?" Came a shrill voice from above them. Luna smiled while Neville turned lightly pink – his Gran was standing over him, hands on her hips, looking critical. Luna saw Neville gulp before he answered her, "Oh, Gran this is Luna, and Luna's dad, he says he knows you, I was just saying how –"

"Xenophilius Lovegood, I know, I know. I've run into you how many times now?" She interrupted, grabbing his hand.

"Oh, Augusta, it must have been five times in the past week!"

The two of them started their own conversation, leaving Neville and Luna sitting awkwardly, both half listening, half thinking of something to say to each other. Suddenly, Neville touched Luna lightly on the hand. She jumped more than she should have.

"Luna…do you…d-do you want to dance?" His face was almost as red as his tie. Luna's heart jumped—she had been waiting for something like this to happen, something that would indicate that they weren't just two people who happened to run Dumbledore's Army, two people who sat by the Black Lake together for at least five hours that day…

"Of course I do!" She said, a little over-enthusiastically. She was always skipping around or frolicking, so her enthusiasm didn't seem too out of place. Neville pushed his chair back, standing up straight and reaching out a hand for Luna to take. She took it as butterflies shot all around the inside of her stomach. His hands were large and soft and encompassed hers almost wholly. He led her on to the dance floor where most of the other guests were. Luna spotted Ginny and Harry, dancing closely with their arms around each other, George and Katie Bell twirling around each other, and Ron and Hermione, a bit apprehensive toward each other, but dancing none the less. _Those two_, Luna thought. _When will they just admit it?_

The music was a moderately-paced folk tune, fine for dancing or talking or whatever the guests felt like doing. The band was fantastically magical, playing instruments that even Luna had never seen in her life. Neville finally stopped, making sure they were out of view from their respective family members, and put his arm around Luna's waist. She was surprised by their height difference—it was not nearly as much as she thought. Still, he was about a head taller than her.

"Had to get away from Gran, did you?" Luna said, looking up at him. He still looked nervous, but a tad more relieved. He chuckled before he replied, making Luna swoon just a tad.

"She can be…overbearing. But I love her to death. Even if she does wear hats with stuffed vultures on them. She has about five different ones. Your dad seems like a lovely guy."

"He is quite lovely," she answered, trying her hardest to stay with the rhythm of the music, but she was never the best dancer. She simply liked to twirl. But now, she was finally holding Neville's hand and she wasn't about to give that up to frolic around.


	4. Chaos

**Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been waiting for my new macbook! Now I have it, so I'll be writing non-stop. This is the last chapter in this story. Hope you like it! Review, please!**

He was holding her hand. He was holding Luna's hand. Neville had to reassure himself that this was real life and he needed to keep himself together. He didn't want to mess this up. He'd waited too long to tell Luna that he was mad for her. They were dancing. And they were holding hands. Neville looked around the room to see Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas giving him knowing looks. Oy, he had to do it now.

"Want to take a walk?" Asked Luna, her blue eyes appearing hopefully from below his head. Neville shook his head in astonishment – those very words were about to come out of his mouth.

"Uh, uh, yes of course, yes!" Too eager. Damn. She pulled him by the hand through the crowd of people in the opposite direction of their relatives, who were still conversing. On this side of the tent were the Weasley family – a whole lot of them, and Neville felt a light punch from either Fred or George (who knows which one) as he walked by. The whole outside area of the tent was…magnificent. Floating orbs – bubbles, whatever they were, were hovering above colorful shrubs and iridescent lilac flowers. It was magical.

Luna was still leading the way, gently, to an opening with a fluffy looking couch in the center. She sat down bouncily and smiled at him. Neville could feel his face turning red. Thank goodness it was the nighttime and it wouldn't be completely obvious how nervous and excited and everything he was feeling. Every emotion he felt seemed to show on his face. He turned to Luna and was at a loss of words. She was just so pretty. It was a beauty he hadn't seen in anyone else. It came from the inside, seeming to radiate, maybe from all the hope and kindness she carried inside of her.

"S'beautiful out." She said, taking in a deep breath and looking around. The light shined off her eyes, making them glow. "I'm sorry to interrupt our dancing, but I just needed a bit of air. It gets stuffy inside those tents, with everyone around. I hope you don't mind joining me."

Neville laughed. There was nothing he'd rather be doing. He dreamt about moments like this, nervous about what it would be like with just the two of them together, but excited nonetheless. And why was he so afraid of rejection? He'd faced it more than many times in his life. He was used to it. It shouldn't hurt by now.

But this mattered. This was not Quidditch tryouts. He was not being laughed at by a classroom of students. He trusted Luna and that's why it mattered. He cleared his throat and said, a bit too loudly, "I'm glad you did, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh yes! Before we were interrupted before. Well, we were interrupted by the wedding! Which was a lovely interruption…"

"Luna, I think I love you."

Her face shifted from pleasantly dreamy to simply wide-eyed. Neville panicked. "I mean, um. Well, okay. Let me sort this out a bit." His heart was about to pump out of his chest. His mind was chaos. "What I mean is…every time I see you, I get really nervous and I want so badly to talk to you but I end up walking away. And we're friends, we've always been friends. And you're a little different from the others and so am I. And you're really beautiful, I think. I really do think that. I didn't mean to use that word, before, it just kind of came out, but I think that's how I really feel. Oh god, I've got to go."

He started to get up from the couch, sweating profusely, having just spilled his heart out to Luna, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. Before he knew it, she was kissing him. It felt like stars were shooting up his heart and into his brain. This was better than anything she could've said to him – this said it all.

He kissed her with so much happiness in him, smiling and grinning, trying to keep his mind on what was happening. There was a crash that came from the tent – a scream – people running in different directions. Something was wrong.

As chaos surrounded them, Neville felt Luna's hand grab his. They were safe with each other, no matter what happened. He wouldn't let anything happen to her – or himself, after what he had just experienced. He had living to do, and that meant spending time with Luna doing all the things he dreamed of with her. Nothing was going to stop that from happening. Nothing.


End file.
